The New Zealand Herald Friday Apr 11, 2014
Britain’s air accidents investigator has criticised Malaysia Airlines for its lack of proper oversight in preserving flight recordings during an incident at London’s Heathrow Airport in 2012.
A Boeing 747 bound for Kuala Lumpur, carrying 340 passengers, had to return to Heathrow soon after takeoff because of engine and electrical failures on Aug. 17, 2012.
The pilots flew the plane manually and returned to the airport safely.
In a report issued overnight, Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch said all the audio information relating to the incident was lost because the cockpit voice recorder ran on long after the landing. The body said the airline’s “procedures for the preservation of flight recordings were not sufficiently robust.”
The Heathrow incident was not related to Flight MH370, which went missing last month.
-AP